The Impossible Task that is Play Time with My Littlest Girl

Playing with my littlest girl is nothing short of a hazard. It’s pretty much chalk and cheese to how her sister played at under a year old. My little girl was nowhere near as active as the baby; often choosing to sit and fiddle with her toy of choice and reaching for something different every now and again. She’d sit and listen to the songs on the TV, looking on with delight at the various animals, puppets and characters on show. Getting our youngest to settle on just one is hard; heck, getting her to settle on a single plaything can be almost impossible. Then there’s the difficulty in encouraging her to use age appropriate toys as, almost certainly to get involved with what our eldest is doing, she has more of an appetite for the more advanced games; even as she has no clue about what to do with them.

She has a plethora of dolls, rattles and other things designed for the developing mind. It’s no matter though, as they’re generally not of interest; with everyday household items taking precedence nine times out of ten. Nappies, wipes, wires and notepads are some of her favourites (and we’ve caught her green faced after sucking on one of her sister’s colourings), while she’s also been known to make a beeline for my (shudders) feet. Although there is one thing that catches her attention better than anything else: when the older one is building a set of towers with her wooden blocks, then all bets are off. Eyes wide, she’ll crawl over; hell bent on destruction. As she nears the structure, we’ll catch it, a small glint of excitement as she takes out everything in sight; akin to that of King Kong. This is probably where the differences between our terrible twosome are demonstrated the most.

When she gets hold of an object, toy or otherwise, the first place, nay, the only place that it goes, is in her mouth. I’m sure that is the case for all babies, but it still makes me laugh. All of the above would be devoured if she got the chance (so we have to pay special attention with dirty nappies and live wires). She also has a soft spot for her sister’s magic wand; with other notables including our Duplo bricks, her various teddies and the aforementioned bricks used to build the aforementioned towers. We've tried a myriad times with her teething toys (you know, the ones designed to be bitten!) but they rarely seem to be of interest. There's also her baby blocks and figures, her stackers and the Jumparoo that get low reviews from herself.

What tops off playtime with my littlest girl is how much of a whirlwind she is. Since she’s started crawling you can’t take your eyes off her. Sit down and she’ll be behind the couch or under the table; either way almost out of sight. Leave the room for a second and she won’t be far behind you. Stay more than one metre away from her (out of catching distance) and she’ll kneel up on a table or chair before commencing to fall and bump her head. I can only imagine that keeping up with her will become all the harder as she grows up; and we’re definitely going to need gates before long! It’s an inevitability that she will annoy her sister all the more as she develops an even bigger desire to play with her; although we still maintain that it was a good idea to have the two children!

By Calum Dewsbury